Jakartans still mostly rely on gallons of Aqua brand purified water for their household drinking needs. But even if your water comes from a gallon bearing the Aqua label, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s safe to drink.
The Depok City Police recently caught a counterfeiter, identified as 33-year-old RAS, refilling Aqua brand gallons with unsanitary ground well water.
The fakery was exposed after a local resident in the area RAS sold his gallons to reported the vendor to the police in mid-May.
“The citizen reported that there were no Aqua gallons in [RAS’s] storage warehouse. After a police officer investigated, they found counterfeit labels that looked like they were original or recycled,” said Depok Police Chief Commissioner Harry Setiawan on Sunday as quoted by Tempo.
The counterfeiting scheme has apparently been going on for three months. The suspect said that he only earned Rp 1,000 in profit from real Aqua gallons but that he could make Rp 8,000 per fake. According to police he was selling about 30 gallons per ay to local residents.
Police said that RAS will will be charged under consumer protection laws and could face up 5 years in prison.
